After a majority of the Giants vacated the team’s practice bubble yesterday, Kerry Collins and new center Jason Whittle remained, snapping ball after ball.

The repetition was designed to make sure Collins’ fumble-itis from last year doesn’t return. Whittle will start at center Sunday in Houston, replacing the injured Chris Bober. A torn left biceps is expected to keep Bober out for 2-3 weeks.

During the preseason, Whittle played some center, so it is not as if this is the first time Collins has been behind him. Still, Collins’ report on the exchanges was lukewarm.

“It’s not going bad,” Collins said. “It’s going pretty well.”

The exchange at center is of most importance. Last season, Collins and Dusty Zeigler had all kinds of problems, which was one of the reasons Collins set an NFL-record with 23 fumbles.

In the first 10 games this year, Collins has lost the ball four times, but only one came on the QB-center exchange. And the defense has recovered only one of his miscues. This is why the lack of continuity could prove important, even against the terrible Texans.

“I hate changing [centers] on Kerry,” Jim Fassel said.

Whittle’s style is a bit different than Bober’s, Collins said. With Whittle, Collins must squat a little more to take the exchange smoothly.

Before Collins’ one-on-one tutorial with Whittle, the offense featured a rather tall No. 82 when it went to three-receiver sets during regular practice.

Collins tried to establish a rapport with Herman Moore, the human Band-Aid for the ravaged receiving corps.

As injured Giants fall week after week, Collins is being asked to remain steady in leading the Abbott and Costello skit (Who’s at receiver?) offense.

After more than a week working with the 6-foot-4 Moore, Collins feels more settled.

“It has helped,” Collins said.

With Ike Hilliard done for the season and Ron Dixon probably not going to play, Collins will look to feature Jeremy Shockey, Tiki Barber and Amani Toomer. If the Texans’ defense is going to be kept honest, it would be best if Daryl Jones or Moore caught a few balls.

For now, Moore is expected to be in for the three-wide-receiver sets only.

“I think he is getting used to what we are doing,” Collins said.

Time and maturity have aided Collins making a U-turn in his career. His awful escapades in Carolina are nearly forgotten.

On Sunday, Collins faces his old Carolina coach Dom Capers. The two had a tumultuous parting in Carolina in 1998 with Capers saying Collins “quit” on the team.

Having faced Capers’ teams before, including this presason in the Hall of Fame game, Collins has no aggression, just cliches for his old coach. Collins basically said Capers will have the Texans ready and little else.

Despite his triteness, Collins sincerely seems to have rectified any bad feelings toward Capers. If the opportunity presents itself before Sunday’s game, Collins plans on talking to Capers for the first time since the quarterback’s final days in Carolina.

When Capers faces the soon-to-be-30 years old Collins, the old coach will see a quarterback in control of an offense that is splitting apart at the limbs.

“I think the more comfortable he feels with the system, the better he becomes,” Toomer said. “He is getting into more of a consistent high level of play.”